Join us for a vibrant day across the museum, exhibitions and vessels as we celebrate NAIDOC Week 2025.

The Australian National Maritime Museum kicks off NAIDOC week with a Family Fun Day, honouring the theme for 2025 The Next Generation: Strength, Vision &amp; Legacy.&nbsp;
Celebrate the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth, exploring stories and knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Join in creative cultural activities for all ages with artmaking activities, dance workshops music, face painting, tucker tasting and storytelling.

Celebrate the start of NAIDOC Week.&nbsp;
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*** FREE TICKETS SOLD OUT ONLINE ***
LIMITED FREE TICKETS AVAILABLE IN PERSON AT MUSEUM ON THE DAY
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*Ticket is valid for one day only (Sunday 6th of July) and cannot be used for re-entry on a different date.

Sunday 6 July 

Program

<h3>Performance Platform</h3>
 11:00am: Smoking ceremony with Yuin Elder, Custodian and loreman Uncle Les Mcleod
11:30am: Live Music - Emily Blake&nbsp;
12:00pm: Kids Dance workshop with Bangarra Dance Theatre
12.30pm: Live Music – Kyarna Rose
1:00pm: Kids dance workshop with Bangarra Dance theatre
1:30pm: Live Music – Emily Blake
2:00pm: Live Music – Kyarna Rose
2:30pm: Open age dance workshop with Bangarra Dance Theatre
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<h3>Ben Lexcen Terrace forecourt</h3>
12– 2pm: Drop-in Bush tucker and tea tastings with Aunty Marie and Koori Kulcha

<h3>Terrace Room</h3>
10.30am– 4pm: NAIDOC facepainting and drop-in activities. Make a model nawi, craft a whale lantern, design a badge to celebrate NAIDOC, and learn to make a woven ghostnet sea creature. Get your face painted with NAIDOC inspired designs curated by Dakota Dixon.
11.30am: Drop-in mural making workshop with Nioka Lowe-Brennan
1pm: Drop-in mural making workshop with Nioka Lowe-Brennan

<h3>Bamal Yarning Space</h3>
All day: Catch a screening of Tunku and Ngaadi. A timeless Dreaming story from the South Coast of NSW, exploring the eternal connection between the Moon and the Earth. Passed down through generations, this powerful tale is illustrated by Walbunja and Ngarigo artist Cheryl Davison in collaboration with Studio Gilay and brought to life through the voices of the Djinama Yilaga Choir.

<h3>Museum galleries</h3>
10.30 – 11.30am and 2-3pm: Drop-in and explore touchable artefacts from our education collection at the Cabinet of Curiosities – Saltwater Stories
9.30am – 5pm: Adventure on a Sea Country Activity Trail. Be inspired by beautiful works and fascinating stories by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists these holidays as you follow the sea country activity trail through the museum. Collect all 5 sea creature stamps on your trail to receive your prize

Download

Download the Map

As an island nation, Australia has a unique relationship with the oceans that surround us.

Permanent

First Nations

First Nations knowledge

First Nations navigation

Pram

Wheelchair

Indoor

Free

All ages

Shaped by the Sea

Installation of work from Yolŋu sculptor Guykuḏa Munuŋgurr. A powerful demonstration of ancestral and totemic affiliations of marine life to family in the Yirrkala region.

Last chance

Sale notifications

Temporary

First Nations stewardship

First Nations craftsmanship and arts

Mäṉa and Bäru – The Sea Country of Guykuḏa Munuŋgurr

From the observation of the transit of Venus, to the importance of the night sky in Torres Strait Islander navigation and voyaging – planets and stars unite the long history of all navigators around Australia.

First Nations seafaring

British seafaring

Dutch seafaring

Under Southern Skies

Portraits of Indigenous servicemen and women in the Australian Navy by Belinda Mason

Royal Australian Navy

Navy and fleet

Serving Country

Explore the museum

Hailing from the Yuin Nation on the far south coast of NSW, Kyarna is a gifted First Nations singer-songwriter set to make waves in the Australian country and folk music scenes. With a&nbsp; soulful voice and the ability to craft songs that transport listeners to moments in time with every lyric, KYARNA's music weaves her very raw and often painful, life experiences, culture,&nbsp; and storytelling into an authentic tapestry that resonates deeply with audiences.
Kyarna has shared stages with Australian music legends, including Uncle Archie Roach, Stiff Gins, Casey Donovan, Paul Kelly, Troy Cassar-Daley, and Nancy Bates, and also supported emerging and established artists like Dave Wells, CJ Stranger, Mahalia Barnes &amp; Prinnie Stevens, showcasing her ability to connect with audiences and fellow musicians alike.
Her journey as an artist is rooted in authenticity and a commitment to empowering Aboriginal girls and women, showing them that their voices and stories deserve to be heard.&nbsp;

Kyarna Rose 

Emily Blake is a proud descendant of Bunjalung, Tongan, Australian South Sea Islander and English heritage, Emily's artistry reflects the depth of her cultural influences. She is an award-winning Vocalist, Recording Artist and composer. With an extensive music career spanning over 2 decades in the Australian music industry, Emily specialises in Hip Hop, R&amp;B, Jazz, Soul and Islander choral traditions and has gained recognition for her versatility, exceptional vocal ability and genius vocal composition.&nbsp;

Emily Blake 

is a proud descendant of the Dharawal Nation as well as the people of the Eora Nation. &nbsp;
Growing up on the NSW Central Coast and Muswellbrook in the Upper Hunter, Chantelle has been dancing since the age of two, a passion that has led her to pursue all styles of dance and to travel extensively. Chantelle moved to Newcastle to train at the National College of Dance, graduating in 2016 with a Diploma of Dance (Elite Performance). In 2017, Chantelle travelled to Salzburg, Austria for four years of intensive training as she worked towards a fine arts degree in Dance at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD). Chantelle joined Bangarra in 2022.&nbsp;

Chantelle Lee Lockhart  

&nbsp;is a proud Aboriginal man with connections to the Kunja and Muruwari people of south-western Queensland, and Wakka Wakka nation, south-eastern Queensland. After finishing high school at the Hunter School of Performing Arts in Newcastle in 2017, James studied at NAISDA until early 2022, completing an Advanced Diploma in Dance. In 2021 James performed with the NT Dance Company for their season of Forbidden and with Moogahlin Performing Arts for the season of The Lookout and has made ongoing collaboration with The Dreaming Project, in partnership with Footscray Community Arts. James has worked with many choreographers including Frances Rings, Sani Townson, Deborah Brown, Gary Lang, Albert David &amp; Joshua Thompson. &nbsp;

James Boyd 

Nioka Lowe-Brennan is a proud Dunghutti/Gomeroi woman, living on Wangal land, Sydney.
She grew up in a creative household with artist mother, musician father, and spent most of her childhood drawing. Her journey as an artist began to flourish when she commenced work at Boomalli Aboriginal Artist co-operative, where she immersed herself in a community filled with awe inspiring contemporary aboriginal artists. Through her experiences, she found her own voice and passion in creating art that reflects her heritage and identity.
Art has given Nioka wonderful opportunities, a stronger connection to culture and a deep love for creating, she hopes to do it for the rest of her life. Her main artistic passion lies in figurative work with ample texture and bold contrasting colours, her art is experimental but a purposeful representation of country and how she sees the world around her.&nbsp;

Nioka Lowe-Brennan 

Koori Kulcha Aboriginal Corporation is a not-for-Profit Community Organization highlighting the richness of Aboriginal foods, the beauty of our culture and art.
Koori Kulcha provides training and employment pathways through its not-for-profit Enterprise.&nbsp;

Koori Kulcha 

Manager, Koori Kulcha
Aunty Marie is a proud Dunghutti and Gamilaroi woman, a mother of five and grandmother of eight. Marie is CEO of Koori Kulcha Experience, which provides catering, cross-cultural training, team building workshops and tourism. She is also managing director of Koori Kulcha Aboriginal Corporation, which runs Community Development Programs and is fully funded by Koori Kulcha Experience. Her passions include fighting homelessness and empowering marginalised women.&nbsp;

Marie Barbaric 

is an artist and Cultural Leader from Yuin Country who seeks to educate the general community in Indigenous practices, sharing his culture through storytelling, dance and art.&nbsp;

NAIDOC Week Open Day

Sunday 6 July

Program

Performance Platform

Ben Lexcen Terrace forecourt

Terrace Room

Bamal Yarning Space

Museum galleries

Download the Map

Explore the museum

Shaped by the Sea

Mäṉa and Bäru – The Sea Country of Guykuḏa Munuŋgurr

Under Southern Skies

Serving Country

Artists

NAIDOC Week Open DayNAIDOC Week Open Day

Sunday 6 July

Program

Performance Platform

Ben Lexcen Terrace forecourt

Terrace Room

Bamal Yarning Space

Museum galleries

Download the Map

Explore the museum

Shaped by the Sea

Mäṉa and Bäru – The Sea Country of Guykuḏa Munuŋgurr

Under Southern Skies

Serving Country

Artists

NAIDOC Week Open Day